Wow nmgirl, that's a shock! Thanks for the heads up... now I'll be sure to make my final visits there soon. I guess I'll have to console myself with deals on plants that I can only imagine they will have to offer.

Here are my thoughts on this nursery (not the mail-order section of it): Glossy, overpriced, but with an extensive offering of ornamentals. Great during a sale!

I can easily imagine why this nursery would fail before others though... loads of employees, expensive buildings and greenhouses, show gardens to maintain, high enough prices to limit the buying to subset of population. I am also quite sure though that the owner has already made his millions and does not need to stay in business to make a living!

I imagine this will be a blow for fans of the mail order side of the business, but for me it's the least useful of Santa Fe area nurseries (Agua Fria, Plants of the Southwest, Newman's, and Payne's all have better prices and either more natives, a better fruiting plant selection, or wider variety of gardening tools, seeds, etc...

Plants of the SW is my personal fave, I've always had good luck there. I haven't tried Aqua Fria although I've heard about it. Newman's and Payne's, never heard of them. Are they in SF?
I've been told that HGC is having an online auction Dec. 7. I haven't verified that but you might find some deals. The ABQ location is empty, don't know what the SF situation is like.
I wonder if HGC tried to fill Rowlands's niche, that's one nursery that I still miss.
Re: Garden decor that HGC carried.
Very $$$, I wonder if the Jackalope up the road was stiff competition.

Well, talk about just closing the doors! I checked the website for Santa Fe Greenhouses, which is the host nursery for HCG here in Santa Fe, which says that the store is already closed.

The online auction is slated for Dec 10-12, and includes 'retail inventory' as one of the items to be auctioned, so I'm guessing that means plants?

Oh yeah, Newman's and Payne's are both local family run nurseries in SF. Good if you live in the area. Incidentally I always make a couple nursery trips to Albuquerque each year, mostly for stuff that is considered borderline hardy here and not available locally. For these, the big box stores have actually been the most useful (and cheapest)!